So, we all want human smuggling stopped, right? H.R. 6468, the “Putting the Brakes on Human Smuggling Act,” seeks to do precisely that. (The Senate version is S. 3250.)

If human smugglers and drug smugglers used commercial vehicles in their crimes, the bill would bar them from holding commercial drivers’ licenses. In some cases, they would be disqualified for life.

There’s a simple logic to that penalty, of course. They used commercial vehicles in crime, so we’re not going to let them use commercial vehicles again. Get it?

But is that a sensible policy? Is lifetime disqualification draconian?

There’s an active community on WashingtonWatch.com of people who feel that their loved ones have been given excessive sentences. Take a look at the comments on H.R. 261, The Federal Prison Bureau Nonviolent Offender Relief Act of 2007, and H.R. 623, The Second Chance for Ex-Offenders Act of 2007. Punishment is one thing, but vindictiveness is another.

Speaking practically, it’s important not to foreclose career opportunities from people who have been convicted of crime and served their time. It does no one any good if people who have paid their debts to society are excluded from the job market in the area where they have skills. What’s likely to happen if we do that? A return to crime, recidivism, and the growth of a permanent criminal underclass.

So it’s a clever idea to take commercial driver’s licenses away from smugglers, but maybe it’s not a good idea. Here’s the current voting on the bill. Click to vote, comment, learn more, and edit the wiki article about the bill:

P.S. Calling it the Putting the Brakes on Human Smuggling Act should be a criminal offense, carrying with it a permanent ban on the right to name bills!